Tag: Shane Watson

Shane Watson Biography

Shane Watson is considered one of the best limited-overs all rounders in modern cricket. He possesses a powerful game and can deal with both pace and spin. Like many all-rounders, he started off as a middle order batsman. Then, he worked his way up the order to finally become an opener.

While in that position, Shane Watson unleashed a new beast that no one knew existed. His semi-final and final knocks in the 2009 Champions Trophy almost single-handedly took Australia to the title.

Watson made his international debut in 2002 against South Africa in an ODI series. Inspite of a selection overhaul, Shane Watson was an obvious selection. This was because Cricket Australia took into account his usefulness as an all-rounder.

But one of his biggest vices was fitness and it plagued him throughout his career. He had contend with bad form for a long time but he never let it get him down. Shane Watson had a fairly good international career, particularly in limited-overs cricket.

IPL Career

Shane Watson kickstarted his IPL career in 2008 for the Rajasthan Royals. That year, he thrived and was the leading run-scorer and third highest-wicket taker. He also played a key role in the Royals’ underdog success story.

National duty and injury kept him out of the IPL in 2009. However, from 2010 onwards he was on and off the league until 2013. He topped the batting charts for the Royals in IPL-5 and also made his maiden IPL century, 101 against CSK.

The all-rounder remained loyal to the Royals until 2015 but injury forced him out yet again. During, the Royals’ two-year ban for the spot-fixing scandal, Shane Watson was fished out of auction pool by the Royal Challengers Bangalore.

However, he was unable to justify his hefty 9.5 crore price tag. While he delivered with the ball in 2016, he had a poor time with the willow. When RCB released him, the returning Royals did not retake him.

But then, a lifeline arrived in the form of the Chennai Super Kings. Watson then made Rajasthan and Bangalore regret not retaining him when the tournament began. He smashed an astonishing 555 runs in the season – his best in IPL history.

While he was stuck in the middle-order at RCB, Dhoni slotted him into the opening position.

Expectations for IPL 2019

Now, in IPL 2019, Shane Watson is back with the Chennai Super Kings and really relishing the challenge.